Self-threading shuttle eye for automatic looms



C. J. KELLY AND H. H. SHUMWAY, JR.

SELF THREADING SHUTJTLE EYE FOR AUIOMATIC LOOMS.

APPLICATION mu) MAYZI. I92].

1,433,208. Patented Oct. 24, 1922.

2 SHEETSSHEE'I 1.

-(HHHIIHIIHIIHHIIHIHHHIFD n G) I C. J. KELLY AND H. H. SHUMWAY, JRx

SELF THREADING SHUTTLE EYE FOR AUIOMATIC LOOMS.

- APPLICATION FILED MAY 21. 192]- Patented 00t- 24, 1922.

2 SHEETS SHEET 2.

oonnntius 1 if. u

i. KELLY AND HERBERT n. snUMw-eY, JR, or TAUNTOH, MASSA- onusnrrs.

' snnr-rnnnenrne SHUTTLE EYE non AUTOMATIC LOOMS.

Application filed May 21, 1921.

T 0 all whom it mag 'concewz/l' Be itknown that we, CoRNnLIUs J. KELLY"F i and 'IIERBERT H SHUHWAY, Jr., both citi- Zens of the United States,and residents of 5 Taunton, 1n the county of Bristol and StateofMassachusetts, have invented certaln new and useful Impr Shuttle Eyesfor the-following is This invention relates shuttle-eyes such as areshuttles used in automatic ovements in Self-'lhreading Automatic Looms,of which a specification.

to self threading employed in the looms, and it consists offlll'lIIlPlOVGCl threading block which constitutes the eye member of theshuttle.

()ur invention 11 as for its object to provide an improved eye of thisclass which in its construction will under. all circumstances positivelyand effectively retain the yarn in threaded status-within the eye andpreclude loopingout? or breaking of the yarn.

Theself-threading shuttleeyes in the constructions heretofore.generallyemployed do 'quently loops the shuttle, and

vely lock the yarn within the eye iront and rear, and the yarn freutduring the operation of also breaks, which not only causes a loss ofmuch time and resultant expense and inconvenience in the operativeservice of automatic looms but results in thin and imperfect parts inthe wovencloth. In such shuttle-eyes'of the prior conditions in the artthe action is such choppedinto thus the yarn 1S that the yarn is the eyein threading, and

not effectively locked'or retained at the front of the eye nor is iteffectively held against looping out at the rear.

Our invention foregoing eondit and all the dis the shuttle-eyes isdesigned to overcome the ions of ineffective operation advantagesencountered in as now generally used, and

the improved eye in its construction provides for the threading cad ofdropplng it, the yarn the. yarn, inst thereof by pulling in? beingguided under the pulling action into its complete threaded position inthe eye and thereafter securely retained against dis placement therefrom or looping out eith r at the front or rear, whereby continuousuniform operation eeonomv, effect In the drawin Figure 1 is a with. theimprov therein.

of the. loom is assured and convenience, and the maximum of ness andefhciency 1s attained.

top plan view of a shuttle ed eye in operative posltion Serial No.471,330.

i 2 is a side view of the shuttle as in a the delivery side thereof. 3 sa section on the line 3-3, Fig. L 1 1s a cross-section on the line 44L 5is across-section on the line 5-5,

of the eye is a detail front view of the eye the eye detail bottom planview of the eye member.

torrespondingparts in all the figures are denoted by the same referencecharacters. Referring to the drawings, i l, designates the shuttle,which may beof any usual or adapted construction carrying the bobbin l5,and having at its front end a conforming socket, 16, in which theshuttleeye memher, 1?, is secured, said socket opening at its rear tothe l )bbin chamber and having an open. top exposing the top surface ofthe shuttle-eye, and also having at its front a suitably beveled orcurved extension-channel surface, 18, forming a yarn or thread guide,and a lateral opening extending throughthe wall of theshuttle andsuitably beveled or curved to form the delivery eye. 19, at theside ofthe shuttle. I

The improved eye member constituting our invention consists of a block,preferably ast or formed of metal in an integral piece in the relatedcontour hereinafter described, which is set and secured in operativeposition within the conforming socket or cavity 16 of the shuttle. Thesecured mounting of the eye member 17, is preferably by means of a stud,20, depending from the bottom of the body block and engaging acorrespond ing recess or aperture, 21, in the bottom of theshuttle-socket l6, and a cross-pin or bolt, 212,passing"transverselythrough the walls of the shuttle at the socket 16 and through aperforation. 23, in the bottom portion of the body block above the stud90. said fas toning means being in rear of the side delivery eye 19 ofthe shuttle, and an addi tional front anchorage or fastening means ispreferably constituted by a pin, 24:, projectively carried at the bottomof the eye member 17 and entering the bottom wall of the socket 16 ofthe shuttle.

The foregoing conditions of construction are substantially the same asthose usually employed in shuttle threading-eyes of the type to whichour improvements relate, our invention consisting in the relatedfeatures of construction as will now be described.

The improved self-threading shuttle-eye, as constructed according toourvinvention, has a longitudinal bore, 25, terminating in an opening,26, at the rear wall, 27, of the block body, said terminal end openingbeing of substantially circular or vertically elliptical contour. In theside wall of said rear terminal end-opening portion of the bore 25 isformed a slot, 28, of slight or relatively narrow width, preferably onlysufficiently wider than the yarn which is threaded to permit passage ofthe yarn through said slot into the bore-passage. This entrance slot islocated preferably on the line of the transverse axis of thebore-opening 26.

The guide passage to the slot 28 is formed by an auxiliary slot, 29, inthe wall of the bore 25 and extending upwardly from the slot 28 atapproximately right angles thereto and having its mouth, as at 30,opening to the open top portion of the bore 25 which extends throughoutthe length thereof forwardly of said slot 29, as at 31, the bore thusconstituting in its main portion forward of the rear-end opening 28 anopen body-groove and having the walls thereof of suitable curved contourin cross-section, as at 32, to form a smooth guide-passage for thetravel of the yarn through the eye member.

The walls of the open top portion 31 of the groove-bore 25, at theportion in front of the upwardly-extending guide-slot 29, are flaredupwardly and outwardly at the respective opposite sides in a continuousconvex curvature, as at 33 and 34, forming opposite scroll surfacesleading directly to the mouth 30 of the slot 29, and the side wall ofthe rear-end portion of the bore 25 above the lateral slot 28 and inrear of the guideslot 29 forms a downwardly-extending lip, 35,constituting the rear wall. of the slot 29 and located in rear of thescroll-surface 33 at the front of the slot 29, which lip has its outerface curved convexly downwardly, as at 36, as a continuation of thescroll surface 3a leading directly to the lateral slot 28.

The width of the upwardly-extending guide slot 29 is comparativelynarrow, preferably of slightly greater width than the lateral slot 28,and the open-top portion 31 of the groove-bore 25 between the scrollsurfaces 33 and 3st is of corresponding narrow width and preferably offlaring contour forwardly.

The relative construction as above described constitutes the rearportion of the improved shuttle-eye, whereby the yarn is directly guidedby a pulling in action into locked or retained position within the rearopening 26 of the bore passage 25 and the looping out of the yarntherefrom is positively precluded.

In the construction at the front portion of the eye, for guiding theyarn to the groovebore passage 25 and retaining it securely againstdisplacement therefrom during its travel and the operation of theshuttle, the side wall of the groove-bore 25 which forms the scrollsurface 33 is continued forwardly into an inwardly-projecting curvedhorn contour, as at 37, at the front of the eye, the terminal point, 38,of which overlies the groove-bore 25 on a top plane higher than the rearslots 28 and 29, the convexely-curved contour of the scroll surface 33being continued forwardly, as at 39, and gradually tapered, as at 40, tothe point 38 of the horn 37, and the curvature of said point of the hornis preferably inclined slightly downward, as at 4.1.

Said side wall and its horn extension thus constitutes one complete sidewall of the groove-bore 25 and forms a continuous inwardly anddownwardly extending convexlycurved scroll guide surface, from the point38 of the horn 37 to the rear guide-slot 29, leading to the bore, saidscroll surface forming a longitudinal half section of the top surface atone side of the shuttle-eye.

The other side wall of the groove bore 25 which forms the scroll surface34 is also continued forwardly into an inwardly-projecting curved horncontour, as at 42, said horn being in the form of a finger the front endof which, as, projectsforwardly beyond the other horn, 37, and saidfinger extending as an overhang on a plane above the groove-bore 25. Theoonvexly-curved contour of the scroll surface 34 is continued forwardlyto the horn-finger 42 and is curved downwardly, as at at, at the topsurface of said horn and towardsthe front point 43 thereof. r

Said horn-finger 42 projects laterally over the inwardly-projectingfront end 38 of the other horn 37 and overlies the convexly curved andgradually-tapered scroll surface 39 and alt) thereof, and the undersurface of the overlying horn-finger is curved concavely in graduallytapering contour to the front end point as, as at 4:5, and graduallymerges into the curvature of the groove bore 25, and thus forms areverse scroll surface approximately corresponding to the scroll surface of that portion of the horn 37 which it overlies. The scrollsurfaces as and 40 of the respective horns 37 and a2 thus extendrelatively a distance approximately corresponding to the length of thehorn 37, and

the-space, between said surfaces: forms the entrance passage for theyarn tothe groovebore-25i at the front: ofa'the' shuttle-eye, saidguide. passage, as:at 46,.heing of slight or relatively narrow. width,preferably only sufficiently wider than: the: yarn which is threaded topermit. passage 1 of the yarn. between thehornsainto thev bore-passage.

Attherear of the overlying portion of the horn-finger 42 is formedatransverse shoulder, 47, the. under surface of'whichis concavel-ycurved and. gradually tapered towards the; rear. point ofztheoverlyingportionofethe finger 42,.as at 48, and has its curvature graduallymerging into the convexly and; downwardly curved scroll surface Mzottheside wall of the groove-bore 25;, the gradually. flaring open top of thelattervbeingthus widerimmediately in. rear of:'said shoulder-.47

The sidewall wh ich forms the scroll surface 34;, andEits-hornextension4.2,zconstitutesunder=the foregoing structural conditions the. othercomplete side wall of the groove-bore 25. and forms a. continuous scrollguide-surface, from the front point 43 'ofzt-he horn-fingerrtQ, to the:rear dependingrlip 35;leadingt0the lateral guide slot 28, saidzscrollsurface forming the other longitudinal half section of the top surface:at one side; Of, the. shuttle-eye.

Lateral ;1ips,-,as at-AQ and 50, are provided I at opposite sides of thebody'ofthe eyemember. 17,.at the-top thereof, and have their topsurfaces:curved. to form an extension of the respective opposite scrollsurfaces. .of;the. eye, in-rear of the front horns, which. lead as r aguide-entrance to the groove bore. 25.:

Thefront edge Of thGwSlClG wall of thegrove-bore 25, below the pointofith'e underlying horn .37, .is inclined downwardly andrearwa-rd1y,-as-at 51, and terminates at its lowerend .in a dependingpoint, 52, extending belowthe plane of thebottom of the groove-bore 25,the rear edge of which point 52-vis curvedconca-velyas'at 53', orinclined upwardly, to form a guide surface,=in front of" the anchoringpin 24, from .which surface 53 ithe: yarn passes to and through the sidedelivery eye 19 of the shuttle after it has been guided, thereto throughthe usual curved slot, as at 54c, in shuttle. socket- 16 and leading tosaid delivery eye. 19.;

The operation and advantages of-the improved constructionofishuttleeeye, as comprised inour invention, will be readily understoodby those skilled in the art of weaving and of shuttleoperation. In thefirst condition of operation, as the bobbin is transferred fromthebattery of the loom to the shuttle, the. shuttleis then thrownacross-the loom and as the end portion of the yarn which is tied oranchored to the the wall of the b'a'ttery."floats. or passes along over.the ,eye memberl'7,.under the pulling? action or tension, it comes incontact with the shoulder-point 45? of the horn-finger 42 and is guidedby the top scroll-surface 4.4 of the latter and the topscrollesurface3-3 of. the other horn 37 until it passes to the. outer point of thehorn 37. and beneath the; same and is then locked against displacementatthe front oft-he. improved shuttle.- eye. The yarn, as it; floats. alongthe top ofithe eye and pulls, is thus guided and forcedsthrough thechannel orrspace 46: between the overlapping portions'of the front.horns S7 and 49/; until'it passesbeneaththe same under action of thescroll; surfaces, and the narrow or. slight width. of: said guidechannel 16 in conjunction. with the contour of the COIX'BSPOQdlHQlyclosely res late-:Loverlapping portions of the horns, as in our improvedconstruction, effectively and positivelyv precludes return .of: the yarnthrough the guide channelled In the automatic threadingaction at the.

front of the eye, as just described,- theyarn:

drops into the grcove bore 25, andfsimultar neously with this action, asthe yarn pulls" it is guided, by the top scrcll-surfacesBd and 34; atopposite sides of: the OPGHIiJOP portion 31 of the groovebore, to. themouth. :30 ofthe verticalguide-slot29 at therear of the eye and is drawndownwardlytherein over the scroll guidesurface 3.4. of: thedownwardly-extendinglip 35' to the. cross slot 28 and through thelatter, underaction of the scroll-surface at -the same .side of thegroove-bore 25, into the rear-endopening 26 of said bore, in which it istl16111:l06l(6d' against displacement at the rearjend of the improvedshuttle-eye. The narrow orislight. width of the entrance slot 28, inconjunction. with the related contour of'the scrollwallsurface of thebore 25 and the depending guidelip S5, effectively and positivelyprecludes return of the. yarn; through the. slot28.

The foregoing automatic threading ac tions :atthe front and rearoftheeyeare completed before the shuttle makes its return. movement, andduring the return movement of the shuttle the. yarn is then pulled downin the action thereofand is guided downwardly over the inclined :frontedge 51 ofthe wall of the groove-bore-Qiir beneath the underl inghorn37. under the bottom point 52 and in rear thereof, from whence it isguided by the curved slot 54 of theshuttle to. the side delivery eye191thereof.

From the foregoing description, it will be understood that our improvedshuttle-eye is self threading under the pulling. action of the yarninstead ofthe conditions heretofore employed in which the yarn isdropped into the eye. Our improved conof said incline and passes irelated scroll-surfaces, until it pa.

struction not only enables the pulling in or the yarn, under the guideaction of the ses beyond the locks, but it thereafter eliectivelyprecludes return of the yarn through the locks and thus the yarn orfilling cannot loop out either at the front or rear of the eye duringthe operation of the shuttle and breaking of the yarn is also precluded,whereby continuous operation of the loom is enabled and thin orimperfect parts in the woven cloth are avoided, with the resultanteconomy in the continuous running of the loom, the maximum product anduniform conditions in the woven output. and the conservation of requiredlabor. In contradistinction to this operation, tae conditions of theprevious constructions oi? self-threading shuttle-eyes are such that theyarn is not retained from looping out at the rear and is not locked inat the front, as the structural. conditions for self-threading areadapted to the passage of the yarn by dropping it into the eye insteadof by a pulling in action, it being furthermore understood that thepulling action or tension is constantly active in our improvedshuttle-eye under operative status of the shuttle as a threading factorto thread the yarn in the eye and retain it in normal status therein.

We do not desire to be understood as limiting ourselves to the detailfeatures of construction and arrangement as herein illustrated anddescribed, as it is manifest that modifications and variations thereinmay be resorted to in thle adaptation oi the invention to varyingconditions of use, without departing from the spirit and scope of ourinvention and improvements. We therefore reserve the right to all suchvariations and modifications as properly fall within the scope of ourinvention and the terms of the following claims:

Having thus described our invention, we claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent:

1. ii self-threading device for shuttles, having its yarn passage orbore terminating at the rear end in a substantially circular orvertically elliptical opening in the side wall of which on approximatelythe line of the transverse axis 01: sa-i l opening is formed a lateralslot of a width sufiicient to only permit entrance passage of the yarnthere through, and scroll guide-surfaces leading from the open top oithe bore to said lateral slot.

2. A Self-threading device for shuttles, having its yarn passage or boreterminating at the rear end in a walled opening, a narrow lateralpassage to said walled rear end, an auxiliary passage intersecting thefront end oi said lateral passage at right angles thereto and extendingupwardly therefrom to the open top oi? the bore, and scroll guide ,aos.

surfaces leading to said angularly related auxiliary passage and lateralpassage.

3. A self-threading device for shuttles, having at the front of its yarnpassage or here a top entrance constituted by two 0ppositeinwardly-projecting and overlapping horn-fingers forming a narrow spaceor passage extending between the overlapping portions to the bore and ofa width sufiicient to only permit entrance passage or the yarn betweensaid horn-fingers and the top hornfinger which overlies the underhorn-finger being formed with a transverse shoulder in rear of theoverlapping portions of said ingers, said here having an open top inrear of said shoulder, and scroll guide-surfaces leading "from the opentop of the bore to and through said intervening narrow passage betweenthe horn-fingers and to said shoulder.

a. A self-threading device for shuttles, having at the front of its yarnpassage or bore a top entrance constituted by two opposit-einwardly-projecting and overlapping horn-lingers :torming a narrow spaceor passage extending between the overlapping portions of the fingers tothe bore, said bore having an open top in rear of said overlappingportions of thehorn-fingers, scroll guide-surfaces leading from the opentop or the here to and through said intervening narrow passage betweenthe horn-fingers, the top horn-finger which overlies the underhorn-linger having an inwardly projecting point at the rear entrance tosaid intervening passage, and a scroll guidesurface leading to saidentrance point.

5. A self-threading device for shuttles, having at the front of its yarnpassage or bore a top entrance constituted by oppositeinwardlvprojecting and overlapping portions forming a narrow space orpassage extending between the overlapping portions to the bore and ot' awidth sufiicient to only permit entrance passage of the yarn to thebore, said here having an open top in rear of said overlapping portions,and scroll guide-surfaces leading from the open top or the here to andthrough said intervening entrance passage between the overlappingportions, the top portion which overlies the under portion beingprovided in rear of said intervening entrance passage with a transversewall having a terminal'point leading to said passage and having scrollguidesurface leading to said terminal point.

6. A self-threading device for shuttles, having its yarn passage or boreterminating at the rear end in an opening in the side wall of which isformed a narrow lateral slot, and having at the. front of its yarnpassage or bore a top entrance constituted by oppositeinwardly-projecting and overlapping horn-fingers forming a narrow spaceor passage extending between the overlap- I bore to said lateral pingportions to the bore, said bore having an open top in rear of saidoverlapping portions of the horn-fingers, and scroll guidesurfacesleading from the open top of the bore to said lateral slot and to andthrough said intervening narrow passage between the horn-fingers.

7. A self-threading device for shuttles having its yarn passage or boreterminating at the rear end in an opening in the side. wall of which isformed a lateral slot of a width suflicient to only. permit entrancepassage of the yarn and having at the front of its yarn passage or borea top entrance constituted by oppositely inwardly-projecting andoverlapping horn-fingers formin a narrow space or passage extendingbetween the overlapping portions to the bore and of a width suflicientto only permit entrance passage of the yarn, said bore having an opentop inrear of said overlapping portions of the horn-fingers, and scrollguidesurfaces leading from the open top of the slot and to and throughsaid intervening narrow passage between the horn-fingers. y

8. A self-threading device for shuttles,

aving its yarn passage or bore terminating at the rear end in asubstantially circular or vertically-elliptical opening in the side wallof which on approximately the line of the transverse axis of saidopening is formed a narrow lateral slot, and having at the front of itsyarn passage or bore a top entrance constituted by opposite inwardly-projecting and overlapping horn-fingers forming a narrow space or passageextending between the overlapping portions to the bore and the overlyinghorn-finger being formed with a transverse shoulder in rear of saidoverlapping portions, said bore having an open top in rear of saidshoulder and scroll guide-surfaces leading from the open top of the boreto said lateral slot and to and through said intervening narrow passagebetween the horn-fingers and to said shoulder.

9. A self-threading device for shuttles,

having its yarn passage or bore terminating at the rear end in anopening in the side wall of which. is formed a narrow lateral slot andan auxiliary slot extending upwardly therefrom to the open top of thebore, and having at the front of its yarn passage or bore a top entranceconstituted by opposite inwardly-projecting and. overlapping hornlingersforming a narrow space or passage extending between the overlappingportions to the bore and the overlying horn-finger being formed withatransverse shoulder in rear of said overlapping portions, said borehaving an open top in rear of said shoulder, and scroll guide surfacesleading to the mouth of said upwardly extending slot and to theintersecting lateral slot and to and through said intervening narrowpassage be tween the horn-fingers and to said shoulder.

10. A self-threading device for shuttles, having its yarn passage orbore terminating at the rear end in a walled opening in the side ofwhich is formed a narrow lateral passage and an intersecting auxiliarypassage at right angles thereto, and having at the front of its yarnpassage or bore a top entrance constituted by oppositeinwardlyprojecting and overlapping portions forming a narrow space orpassage extending between the overlapping portions to the bore and theoverlying front member being provided in rear of said entrance passagewith a transverse wall leading to said passage, said bore having an opentop in rear of said overlapping portions, and scroll guide-surfacesleading from the open top of the bore to said auxiliary rear passage andlateral passage and to and through said entrance passage between theoverlapping front portions and to said rear wall of the overlying frontportion.

In testimony whereof we have foregoing specifications.

CORNELIUS J. KELLY. HERBERT H. SHUM'WAY, JR. Witnesses:

WILLIAM A. BELLAMY, ALoNzo H. SHUMWAY.

signed the

